It’s a challenge to couple power systems that contribute different amounts of power depending on how much sun is reaching the ground or how much wind is blowing with conventional natural gas or nuclear generating plants that run most efficiently at a steady pace.
State regulators believe that the grid can remain stable with 15 percent or less of its power coming from neighborhood power sources, something experts call distributed generation.
“If you have all these different resources operating blind, independent of each other, that’s compounding the problem,” Washom said.
By getting and analyzing information about how and where power is being made and used, the people managing the grid can get more power from sources like rooftop panels, Washom said.
“Part of our research is how much higher can we raise that number,” he said.
Better forecasts will help increase the amount of solar power in the state, said Jim Blatchford, who helps set policies for the California Independent System Operator. As it becomes more predictable, it can be used more reliably, he said.
Onell Soto: (619) 293-1280; firstname.lastname@example.org